Archive for July, 2016

If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence.” Richard DeVos

Care more than you need to, more often than expected, more completely than the other person and without expectation of recognition.

No one reports liking Steve Jobs very much, yet he was as embraced as any businessperson since Walt Disney. Because he cared. He cared deeply about what he was making and how it would be used. Of course, he didn’t just care in a general, amorphous, whiny way, he cared and then actually delivered.

Politicians are held in astonishingly low esteem. Congress in particular is setting record lows, but it’s an endemic problem. The reason? They consistently act as if they don’t care. They don’t care about their peers, certainly, and by their actions, apparently, they don’t care about us. Money first.

Many salespeople face a similar problem–perhaps because for years they’ve used a shallow version of caring as a marketing technique to boost their commissions. One report by the National Association of Realtors found that more than 90% of all homeowners are never again contacted by their real estate agent after the contracts for the home are signed. Why bother… there’s no money in it, just the possibility of complaints. Well, the reason is obvious–you’d come by with cookies and intros to the neighbours if you cared.

Economists tell us that the reason to care is that it increases customer retention, profitability and brand value. For me, though, that’s beside the point (and even counter to the real goal). Caring gives you a compass, a direction to head and most of all, a reason to do the work you do in the first place.

Care More.

It’s only two words, but it’s hard to think of a better mantra for the organization that is smart enough to understand the core underpinning of their business, as well as one in search of a reason for being. No need to get all tied up in sub cycles of this leads to this which leads to that so therefore I care… Instead, there’s the opportunity to follow the direct and difficult road of someone who truly cares about what’s being made and who it is for.

My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out.” Ronald Reagan 40th President of the United States

“Don’t let others define you. Don’t let the past confine you. Take charge of your life with confidence and determination and there are no limits on what you can do or be.” Michael Josephson”

“It is not your job to worry about other people, what they do or why. It’s their journey, and they will get from life what they put into it. It is, however, your job to take full ownership of your own life, your journey, what you do and why. You, too, will reap what you sow. Plant your garden with seeds of love, and enjoy the bountiful harvest.” – Camille Lucy

You create your future with the power of your intention. Intention is simply the conscious act of determining your future now. Health, harmony in relationships, happiness, money, creativity, and love will come to you in the future, based on your intentions now. Intend every day and create your future life. May the joy be with you, Rhonda Byrne The Secret

If I could share 500 words to inspire, this is the important wisdom I’d want to pass along to others…

I’ve been called the “Woman of Independent Means.” Funny, but it seems to capture all the vigour and verve of self-sufficiency, achievement and hard core measurable goals which marked my passage and intentions upon entering the decade of the 90s. I determined to change the world, to make quantum leaps in financial gain, to publish and to produce. After all, 40 was upon me and time a’fleeting.

Now, closer to 60 than to 40, I realize that the better triumphs have not come from reaching these goals but in the shadows and nuances of missing them. When things have not gone as planned and I am forced to stop in pain and confusion, I learn and grow more. And I discover how very dependent we are upon an external world to help us see meaning and discover the deeper purpose behind the seemingly meaningless. It is impossible to truly be a “woman or man of independent means.”

I have discovered that for every beast in the wilderness, there are angels in attendance. Just at that point when I am whipping myself for failures, someone comes along to remind me of some difference I never knew I made. I was looking to “win them all”. The far greater impact came from “winning one”. When I’m feeling most unlovable, some angel appears to whisper in my ear. Yes, I am dependent upon my angels.

I have discovered that unspeakable moments of beauty abound when least expected. In a juvenile “shelter” for girls from the ages of 12-17, where street-smarts and supposed hard hearts conspire to create a short lifespan of crime, I found honesty, fear and a deep desire to be loved and to love. In the bewildered, child-like brain of a failing grandfather, I found humour and humanity. And in the frightening onslaught of a lightening and hail storm atop a 12,000-foot peak, I found a sliver moon behind the clouds. I am dependent upon the experience.

I have discovered that the road away from self-absorption is other-absorption. When I am throwing a pity party, the quickest cure is to help someone else. It can be as simple as telling the store clerk that she has beautiful eyes. It can be as time-consuming as sitting with a lonely widow and letting her recall stories of her past.. Truth be told, often I’d rather whine and complain. I am dependent upon the needs of others to move me out of myself.

I have also discovered that I like myself better as a human being rather than a human doing. Talking to roses can sometimes be better than speaking to thousands. Giving myself permission to “be” rather than “do” remains a daily struggle. I am dependent upon the tug of time.

And lastly, dear reader, I do not wish to go quietly into the next decade. I’ll admit to needing bifocals and oestrogen but I have no intention of aging. I’ll trade exercise for cheesecake and Chardonnay. I’ll forgo naps for too-late parties and choose time with my sweet spouse over a bursting bank account. I’ll arrange to throw my old self away, to moult the dry skin of complacency so I can discover what is new to be learned and experienced.

These are intentions, not goals. Some days I live intentionally– other days, unintentionally. We’ve all been in that knee-jerk, where-did-the day go mode. I need daily reminders to pay attention to what I intend to create: a life by design and not default. By realizing my dependency on life as my teacher, my greatest wisdom comes from just plain showing up today and living NOW. From NOW comes a day that is WON.

Eileen McDargh-Elvins

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt

A positive mental attitude is an irresistible force that knows no such thing as an immovable body. Time and again we hear stories about ordinary people who do seemingly impossible things when they find themselves in an emergency situation. They perform Herculean feats of strength and endurance, things they never dreamed they were capable of doing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could harness that strength and make it available anytime you need it? You can — if you believe you can. No doubt you can remember a time in your life when you were exceptionally focused on your objective, a time when you achieved more in less time than ever before. Perhaps it was an impending vacation that motivated you to get everything done before you departed, or perhaps it was a “must pass” exam that helped you focus your concentration. The intensity that you developed in those situations is always available to you when you have a Positive Mental Attitude. – Napoleon Hill

Technology has created expectation of an immediate response 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Short-term thinking and planning based on the focus of quarterly stock reports has increased the sense of importance for every project. We feel everything is an urgent priority needing instant attention.

The “doing more with less” mentality has increased the amount of our responsibilities and what is expected of us. This has created a culture of inefficient multi-tasking.

Below are four ways you can reduce the amount of stress you feel at work.

Manage Your Electronics: Do not be a prisoner of your electronics. Control how you use them versus reacting to them in the moment. When the communication pops up, you stop what you are doing, you read the email, and you say oh it’s not urgent, and you go back to your project and then another email pops up and you do the same thing. This is an amazing waste of time and focus. Turn off notifications for your email, texts and social media. Instead carve out time slots during the day to check communications. To help others manage their expectations of your reaction time, you can add an automated response to your email such as “I will get to your email in 24 hours.”

Managing Communications: When you do open your email, open it only once and act upon it in that moment. Choose to either Do, Delegate, Delay, or Delete.

Do: Respond and complete the request in that moment.

Delegate: Is this the highest and best use of your time? Is there someone else you can delegate this to? Is there an automated system you can put in place to handle a specific type of email?

Delay: If the email does not need to be handled right now, but it does need to be done by you, add a reminder to come back to it. Don’t just leave it in your inbox as you may then open it again in the future only to delay it again. Colour code the email as a “future” and set up a follow-up reminder.

Delete: Does this need to be done at all? Is there really anything you need to address with it? If you find you are constantly deleting emails from certain sources, you may want to unsubscribe from the list or remove yourself from the project.

Change Your Relationship with Time: When I was working my 9 to 5 job, I would wake up in the morning and immediately go through my to-do list and what I had planned for the day. The result was feeling behind the eight-ball before I even left bed. One of the ways to release time’s hold on you is before you get out of bed say, “I have more than enough time today to accomplish everything that I need to do.” Just making that statement changes your outlook on the day. This reframe empowers you to deal with the day differently.

Simplify and Focus: Often our stress comes from creating unrealistic expectations. There are only a certain hours in the day. Manage what you expect to accomplish by having a list of absolute must-do’s for the day; not more than 3 per day. Make sure you have enough time to accomplish these tasks. I determine what I am going to focus on for the day by having a realistic list of projects I want to accomplish for the week. Remember to focus only on your daily to-do’s. If you focus on the week’s goals it can be overwhelming. Focus solely on the obtainable items for that particular day.

What is the answer to every difficult circumstance in life?

Take the positive path.

Choosing the positive path can be easy at some times in our life and more difficult at other times. When everything is going along well, when we are on a roll, choosing the positive path just flows through us as an easy, natural choice. When something negative comes along it can be far more challenging for us to choose the positive path. But choose it we must! No matter how challenging the negativity may be, there is simply no other way to bring our lives back into positivity.

If negative situations appear, you must use your will and refuse to lower yourself to negative thoughts, words, actions, and emotions. Use your will and decide that not only will you focus on the positive, but you will ramp up the positive in every thought, word, and action of your day.

It takes determination, strength, faith, and the power of your will to focus on the positive when intense negativity descends, but remember, that the Universe and the law of attraction are with you. As you focus on the positive, focus more on the positive, think of the positive, speak of the positive, and take positive and good actions, the law of attraction will give your life wings. Suddenly you will look around you and you will find that the negativity has gone, and that your life has been filled with goodness and joy. Rhonda Byrne The Secret

The Power is from within, the choice is yours

Gray Lawrence

"Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." Nido Qubein

“Attitude is your best weapon against life’s most difficult challenges.” – Dave Bexfield

If I could share 500 words to inspire, this is the important wisdom I’d want to pass along to others…

Walk softly upon the earth knowing that truth can only be experienced in silence. In soulful spaciousness, questions are answered, and possibility unfolds.

See divinity in all that you meet, recognizing the light of the creator in all that you see. We are all connected. We are all one.

Recognize that in knowing others, you are in truth being given an opportunity to know yourself.

Even the most hurtful and vicious of them is you and by extending a loving hand, you are gathering up the discarded parts of your humanity.

Marvel in your uniqueness and recognize it as a blessing. In the absence of all that you deem deficient about yourself, you would be rendered unable to bring your true purpose into being.

The Divine wants you to know that you are beautiful. You are perfectly formed. You are enough.

Speak the life-altering truth that you’ve incarnated to share and know that as scary as it may be, in uttering it, you will set yourself and others free.

Above all else, be yourself. Trust that your unique expression is all that is required.

Fame and fortune are fleeting. A life lived for praise and admiration will always be mired by criticism and blame. Recognition and money do not make you more than the divine being you already are.

Take only what is yours and leave the rest. A million dollars earned out of harmony with your soul will give you a million moments of sorrow.

Know that love is real. Love exists. Love has always existed. It existed before there was an earth. Before there were galaxies. Before anything, we know as life came into being. Love is an infinite ocean in which you swim. It is the air we breathe. It permeates every particle, every molecule, and every single aspect of our experience.

If we cannot trace love back to its beginnings, then surely we know that love never ends.

This is the one constant, never-changing truth of life itself: Love dwells within you. Around you. For you. Through you. Ever-present, available, accessible. It is your guiding principle. Once true love has touched your heart, all that is earthly will pale in significance.

Your life is God’s gift to this world.

Rest in the truth of this and allow it to anchor your heart in peace.

A most beneficial use of time is silent meditation, while searching for guidance from within.We all experience rare moments when a blinding revelation comes to us, when we suddenly see things differently than ever before. Usually, however, we learn the truth about ourselves gradually, over long periods of time, from quiet introspection. We are all spiritual, but some of us have learned to tap more effectively into the great strength that resides in the spiritual portion of ourselves. The spirit is not boisterous and noisy. Getting in touch with your spiritual self demands tranquillity and solitude. Make sure you dedicate a portion of every day to thought and study, to think and reflect upon your life. Choose a time and place that best allow you to relax your mind and devote your thoughts to reflection. Napoleon Hill

The Power is from within, the choice is yours

Gray Lawrence

"Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." Nido Qubein

PMA Added..

“Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the Universe is endlessly bountiful, Just pit forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you” – Shakti Gawain

Inspired Quote of the Day™

Stay true to your deepest intuition that an extraordinary and miraculous life is possible. ~ Craig Hamilton

Today’s Brilliance™

Craig Hamilton

Craig is an inspirational leader in the field of evolutionary spirituality and the founder of Integral Enlightenment.

If I could share 500 words of wisdom to summarize what I’ve learned so far in life, these are the important things I’d want to pass along to others…

In our deepest spiritual moments, we’ve all sensed that an extraordinary transformation is possible—a radical realignment at the deepest levels of our being that would not only liberate us from our personal suffering but would infuse our lives with a sacred, cosmic sense of meaning, purpose and wholeness.

Yet, in the face of life’s challenges, it’s easy to lose touch with this deeper sense of potential, and even begin to doubt that such a lofty possibility really exists.

I want you to know that the highest possibility you’ve glimpsed, the most glorious potential you’ve sensed is not a figment of your imagination but a real possibility. And even more than that is possible.

It is possible for life to make perfect sense. It’s possible for your life to make perfect sense. It’s possible to come into such profound alignment with the moral and spiritual axis of the universe that every moment of your life is a walk in grace, and that you know without any doubt that you are in the right place at the right time. It’s possible for all existential doubt to disappear. It’s possible to live with unwavering conviction in the inherent goodness of life.

It’s possible to awaken so deeply to the divine evolutionary principle at the heart of existence that we know that we are living our lives for the highest purpose there is. And in this knowing, to discover an unimaginable and abiding liberation from the suffering of the confused, neurotic, separate sense of self. It’s possible to be truly free.

I’m speaking about a completely different kind of human life than most of us have ever encountered. This is not simply about "being in the now" or "loving and accepting what is in every moment." It is not about simply accessing a more expansive state of awareness or being able to stand back and abide as the Witness of all that arises. And it’s not just about cultivating a sustained feeling of compassion for the suffering of all beings.

I’m pointing to something more. I’m speaking about the possibility of awakening to our divine nature so fully that we become a superconductor for the creative power of the cosmos, for the evolutionary impulse itself. In this miraculous discovery, our personal need to have and get for ourselves is replaced by a passion to give everything for the greatest good. In this profound alignment with the sacred, the human being becomes a living, breathing force for higher evolution.

Whatever you do and wherever your path takes you, don’t settle for less than this kind of ultimate awakening. Don’t listen to the voice that says that your humanity can’t be transformed into a shining beacon of light and goodness. Stay true to your deepest intuition that an extraordinary and miraculous life is possible. Strive for it. Surrender to it. And don’t ever stop reaching.

The fastest way to become the Master of your thoughts and emotions is through challenging situations. If your life is going along fairly smoothly, there are not the same opportunities that enable you to strengthen your power and become the Master of your thoughts and emotions. You see, even challenges are beautiful opportunities in disguise. May the joy be with you, Rhonda Byrne

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Eleanor Roosevelt